Book Review: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A Monster Calls is the story of a Conor. Conor is a young boy who has been through a lot of difficult life-altering issues. His mother became ill and since her illness she stays sick, continuously. His parents are divorced; his father left them and moved to America, got remarried, and had another child. Conor keeps having this reoccurring nightmare that always results in him waking up screaming. One night, he has another nightmare, or so he thinks, involving a strange type of monster. This monster is a yew tree. He thinks he is dreaming; however, it is reality. The monster tells him that Conor has called him to walk; but Conor denies that. The monster keeps returning to share three stories with Conor; the fourth story is what Conor has to tell the monster. The three stories that the monster shares with Conor are about the times he was called to walk before. The fourth story that Conor has to share is the hidden truth that Conor has to face.

Opinion: This book was recommended to me. It was the first book that I have read by Patrick Ness. I knew before I began this book that it was classified as middle-grade. However, it is a great read for readers of all ages. My favorite character in this book was the monster. The dialogue that came from the monster I had to make note of because it contained some really good quotes. He taught Conor a lot about the world and about himself. I enjoyed the imaginative and creative, but yet realistic aspects of this book. I predicted various parts of this book before I actually got to them, but it did not make the book any less enjoyable for me. The illustrations throughout the book made the book that much better. The pictures that were included along with the text went hand-in-hand and made the book beautiful. It was well written; I also loved the acknowledgement at the beginning of the book. Patrick Ness explained where the original idea came from and explained why he finished the book for the deceased author the way he did.  This book was a rather quick read for me and I anticipated a lot of the plot before it happened, but the author did execute this story well. I gave this book a 4/5 stars. It was a great read.